Eight Privateers Named to ECFC All Conference Selections; Dietrich Picked as Top Special Teamer

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (November 22, 2013) – Yesterday afternoon the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference revealed its postseason awards for the 2013 season. Six members of the Maritime Privateer football team were named to the All-Conference First and Second teams, while the unit also had two members of the team announced the Honorable Mention listing.

In addition to recognition on the All-Conference teams and honorable mention listing, the Privateers were also represented by the ECFC Special Teams Player of the Year in sophomore Diogo Dietrich (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/DePaul Catholic). The placekicker put together one of the finest kicking seasons in Privateer History as he led the team in scoring with 51 points this season on a career-best 9-of-12 field goal kicking and 24-26 PATs. His 75% success rate on field goals was the best in program history and he was a perfect 20-for-20 on PATs in conference games this season.

Dietrich is the first player to be awarded with an individual award since the 2011 season when then-junior Keith Barnes was selected as the league's co-defensive player of the year. Barnes was also named the Defensive Player of the Year in 2010, while head coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes picked up the league's top-coach honors in Maritime's undefeated campaign.

While Dietrich was named to the First-Team All-Conference squad, senior offensive lineman Andrew Cosby (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) joined him on the All-Conference First Team Offense. The Privateers also had two members on the All-Conference First Team Defense as senior Chris Klass (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet) and junior Hugh O'Brien (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) were named first teamers.

On the second team, one player on the offensive side of the ball was selected as junior fullback Kyle Gardner (Amityville N.Y./St. Anthony's) represented the Privateers, and on the defensive side of the ball classmate Nick Coffiey (Wilmington, Del./Delaware Military Academy) picked up All-Conference Second Team accolades.

The Honorable Mention group featured two members from the Privateers as well as senior offensive lineman Noah Collins (Satellite Beach, Fla./Satellite) and running back Frank Laino (Rockaway, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) were mentioned for their work during the 2013 season.

Cosby and Collins were two of the five anchors on the Maritime offensive line that led the way for 2,879 rushing yards, the most yards on the ground since the 2010 season when Maritime totaled over 3,000 yards. They also allowed just six sacks this season, to be amongst the nation's leaders in that category.

Klass, O'Brien and Coffiey were a part of a stingy defensive unit that allowed just 125 points in ECFC play this season en route to the team's 5-2 league record. Klass recorded a total of 21 tackles in the secondary and also recovered a pair of fumbles and had a pair of interceptions in addition to the team's lone blocked kick this season. O'Brien was amongst the team leaders with 57 tackles this year and also accumulated eight sacks and had a pair of fumble recoveries, one of which went for a touchdown. Coffiey was the team leader with 95 tackles, 62 were of the solo variety as he was amongst the nation's leaders all season in solo tackles. Coffiey also had three forced fumbles and a pair of fumble recoveries as he was tied for the team lead.

On the offensive side of the ball, Gardner and Laino were two of the primary ball carriers for the Privateers this season. Gardner led the team with 961 rushing yards this season, the third most for a Maritime rusher in a single season, he was also amongst the team leaders with six touchdowns scored. Laino had his best season as a Privateer during his last year with the squad, he accumulated 374 yards on 60 carries and had three scores, both career highs.

This season, the All-Conference selections were highlighted by Mount Ida and league-champion Gallaudet with 10 selections each. Norwich collected eight, and Husson had seven players selected. Castleton State was tied with Maritime as the Spartans also had six selections, while five players from Becker and four from Anna Maria rounded out the group.

The Privateers picked up just six members on the first and second team this season after collecting seven in the previous two seasons. In 2010, Maritime had 10 members of the team pick up First and Second Team recognition, while in the league's inaugural season of 2009, the Privateers had their most-ever All-Conference players with 12.

Maritime ended its 2013 season with a 5-5 overall record, while collecting a 5-2 mark against ECFC opponents. The team returns a key core of players in 2014 and will look to add a new group of freshman to help the team claim its second-ever ECFC Championship. The 2014 season gets underway in early September.